Captain Virat Singh led from the front by scoring an unbeaten century as Jharkhand defeated Delhi by five wickets in an Elite Group-B match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the CCFC ground here on Monday.
After Delhi, opting to bat, gathered 259 for five, Virat (116 n.o., 128b, 14x4, 2x6) steered Jharkhand to its fifth victory on a track on which odd balls kept low.
Karnataka and Assam also recorded wins in their respective matches over Sikkim and Vidarbha to be tied on 20 points with Jharkhand ahead of the final round of group engagements on Wednesday.
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Jharkhand recovered from 41 for three as Virat and Saurabh Tiwary (32, 44b, 2x4, 1x6) patiently stood for a 65-run stand.
Virat then forged a decisive 118-run partnership, off just 96 balls, with young wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra (49, 40b, 5x4, 1x6) as Delhi struggled due to its sloppy ground fielding.
The left-handed Virat started slowly before accelerating by cutting and driving, predominantly on the off-side. He also ran well with the right-handed Kushagra as Jharkhand made steady progress.
Kushagra, who executed some well-timed drives, played Shivank Vashisth to long-off when his team needed only 36 runs.
Nevertheless, Virat hung on to see his side home.
Earlier, following an 80-run foundation laid by captain Nitish Rana (51, 52b, 4x4, 2x6) and Yash Dhull (49, 78b, 7x4), Ayush Badoni (91 n.o., 69b, 9x4, 4x6) played an important knock to add 98 with Lalit Yadav (29, 50b, 2x4) and take Delhi past the 250-run mark despite Jharkhand’s tight bowling.
At the Eden Gardens, Karnataka’s V.Koushik, K.Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal claimed three wickets apiece to bundle out Sikkim for 117. An 81-run association between skipper Mayank Agarwal (54 n.o., 57b, 7x4) and Nikkin Jose (43 n.o., 52b, 4x4) guided Karnataka to a six-wicket win.
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